Samsung finally launched the long-awaited Tizen-powered smartphone, Z1 (No Galaxy-branded phone), in India in January 2015. Equipped with rather modest specifications such as 3G support, 4-inch WVGA display, less than 1GB DRAM, 3MP rear-camera and 1,500 mAh battery, the Z1 is priced in the entry-tier (<US$100 wholesale) in a bid to appeal to first-time smartphone users in India, the world's third largest smartphone market. Samsung next launched the Z1 in Bangladesh at the first week of February.

Samsung is planning on rolling out the Z1 to more developing countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, in the coming months. Samsung has to compete against the likes of Android (Android One included), Firefox and WP-based smartphones, which are priced at similar levels or even lower than Z1. We guide that an insufficient number of applications (compared with Android) is the key area that Samsung must sort out as soon as possbile, to grow its Tizen ecosystem and make the Z1 more competitive. It will be possible to support Android appplications, either by installing an emulator, or by activating a virtual machine on somewhat higher-end apps processors later on, just like Blackberry Passport.

Samsung has already implemented its Tizen OS on many electronic devices in 2014, such as smart TVs, wearables and digital still cameras, so we expect this vendor to put more resources into enlarging the Tizen-based ecosystem in 2015 across all areas from mobile to office to automotive to home, to prepare for an emerging IoT world.

According to the recently published report -- Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share for 15 Countries in Q4 2014 -- published by our Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) service -- Samsung remained the number one smartphone vendor in most major countries worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2014. Apple performed exceptionally well, boosted by robust demand for its larger-sized 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhones, which enabled the vendor to become the biggest smartphone vendor in the UK for the first time ever. In India, the world's third largest smartphone country, Samsung and Micromax competed almost neck-and-neck, taking the first and second spots, respectively.

This report, available to clients, tracks 18 leading smartphone vendors across up to 30 major countries by quarter in 2014. Countries covered include Thailand, Philippines, Colombia, Nigeria, Egypt and others.

India has become the world's 3rd largest smartphone market by volume, behind China and the United States as of Q3 2014, based on our recently published report, Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare for 15 Countries: Q3 2014, under Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) service. India's smartphone market is growing very rapidly, mainly boosted by the huge population, relatively lower smartphone penetration, many tech-savvy people, rising influence of local vendors and online channel, and many global smartphone vendors who are rushing into this big country looking for potentially economical success. We believe that the bulk of future growth in India's smartphone market will be coming from under retail $100 prices as there are myriads of price-sensitive users in India, looking for cheaper phones.

A lot of global and local vendors are prioritizing this price-tier, under retail $100 to gain traction and lead the market share. First of all, there are already not a few smartphones priced below $80 (retail) in the market, which are powered by Android and Firefox. These ultra-affordable smartphones with modest hardware specifications and services are accounting for almost half of all smartphones sold in India in 2014, according to our published report, BRIC Country Smartphone Revenues, ASPs & Price-Tier Forecasts: 2009 to 2020 under our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service. Second, Google is collaborating with leading Indian vendors such as Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, and already launched a few Android One smartphones from September at a retail $100 price. Google is widening its Android One partnerships now, and will be willing to cut the price below $100 to generate the bigger share in India.

Third, Microsoft (Nokia), which has not gained much success in India with its Windowsphone OS, is focusing on lower-priced segment with its Lumia 530/630 series. In addition, as Microsoft is giving out its OS for free for all sub-8" devices, we expect more smartphones under the retail $100 to hit the Indian market, mainly driven by Micromax, Karbonn and Lava. Fourth, Andriod players such as Xiaomi and Motorola are creating more presence in India, by providing the higher-specced phones at reasonably affordable price-points, at between $90 and $110 in retail pricing, mostly through online channels, making their price advantage stand out. Finally, Samsung, the king of global smartphone market, is reportedly set to fight back with its long-awaited Tizen-based smartphone. It is reportedly known that this Tizen OS smartphone will be launched in India in mid of December at around retail US$100 price, so we estimate that Samsung is ready to go head to head in this intensely competitive segment.

According to the recently published 'Global Handset Vendor Share in 15 Countries in Q3 2014', published under our Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) service, Micromax ranks no.2 in handset market in India during Q3 2014, closing the gap against the leading vendor, Samsung. The market share difference between those two got narrowed to a record-low level in Q3 2014.

Asus, the Taiwanese handset vendor and better known for its laptop, desktop and server products, is slowly but meaningfully enhancing its handset market presence in several key countries including China, India and its home Taiwanese market based on its Zenfone and Padfone series. As this vendor is also aggressively shipping its handsets into other big markets such as Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, it is expected that Asus is sure to keep up its handset market share in those countries in coming quarters.

The detailed analysis and marekt share on the 23 leading handset vendors in major 15 countries can be available to our paid clients, at this link.

According to the recently published 'Global Smartphone Vendor Share for 15 Countries' under our Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) service, Samsung captured the biggest smartphone market share in 11 countries out of 15 countries that we track every quarter. Apple became the no. 1 smartphone vendor in 3 countries including the US and Japan while Xiaomi became the largest smartphone vendor in China for the first time during Q3 2014.

The report, which tracks the leading 17 smartphone vendors, from tier-one vendors such as Samsung and Apple, to the rising vendors such as Oppo, Vivo and Gionee, in major 15 coutries acorss the globe can be available to our paid clients at this link.

According to the recently published insight report, "India: The Next Big Smartphone Market in the Wake of China", under our Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) service, India, the world's 2nd most populous country behind China, is also getting on track to become the world's 2nd largest smartphone country in the foreseeable future. India pushed into top 10 smartphone countries list at the end of 2012 for the first time, and has become the 3rd largest smartphone country by volume in 2013. India's annual growth rate is almost two times faster than global average rate YoY.

Our HCST service analyzes that several positive trends around Indian smartphone market is playing a key role in booming up the smartphone demand in India down the roads, and few of the trends are including surging local vendors and Google's drive. The in-detail analysis is available to our paid clients for HCST service at this link.

According to a new report from our Country Share Tracker (CST) service, global LTE phone shipments grew by +54% annually in Q2 2014. The US, Japan and Western Europe continued to witness rapid 4G growth, while new-entrant China rapidly established itself as the second-largest LTE market. Dozens of LTE handset models from Samsung, Apple, LG, ZTE and Sony are now flooding the market. The United States remains by far the world's largest LTE country, boosted by fierce competition among handset vendors and robust carrier subsidies. Our report -- published to clients here -- tracks global LTE handset shipments and vendor marketshare for 17 major vendors in 5 major LTE countries from Q1 2012 through Q2 2014.

According to our WDS (Devices) research service, global LTE mobile phone industry revenues rose +44% annually during Q2 2014. Apple remained the world's largest 4G handset vendor by revenue, followed by Samsung and LG. Chinese vendor ZTE delivered the highest revenue growth among major players, driven by its volume expansion. This extensive report, available to clients here, provides quarterly global LTE handset shipments, wholesale (transfer) pricing, and revenue metrics for 20 major vendors from Q1 2011 to Q2 2014. The report is a vital tool for monitoring the financial health and tiered marketshare of leading LTE brands such as Nokia, HTC, BlackBerry, Samsung, Apple and others.

According to a new report from our WDS (Devices) research service, global mobile phone shipments will grow +5% in 2015. Samsung, Apple and Chinese vendors, including Huawei and Lenovo, will be among the main vendors driving growth next year, with 4G LTE providing significant uplift in key markets such as the US, China, Japan, UK and South Korea. This published report, available to clients here, forecasts global handset, smartphone and feature phone shipments by QUARTER for 14 of the world's largest VENDORS from 2000 to 2015. Global grey handset volumes by quarter through 2015 are also included. The report is a valuable tool for component makers, software developers, operators and other stakeholders to support their planning activities.

For the first time ever, Huawei pushed into the top 5 list by value, driven by rising volumes and improved ASP. Asia Pacific remains the world's largest region by volume and value. Xiaomi and Huawei ranked the third and fourth position in this region by value.